1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voice guidance system for guiding operations of an information processing apparatus by voice and to a voice guidance method using such system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a voice guidance system which is designed so that, when an unselectable job command is selected, a message indicating the reason why the command is unselectable is given by voice, and to a voice guidance method using such system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it has been proposed to incorporate the principles of the universal design (i.e., to design products, services and environments to make them more usable by as many people as possible, regardless of ages, genders, races, and physical or mental abilities) into various types of information processing apparatuses such as facsimile machines, copy machines, multifunction devices, and personal computers.
Additionally, in recent years after the enforcement of Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, there has been a trend in hardware manufacturers that provide these information processing apparatuses to customers to make research and development efforts based on cognition that their competitiveness is enhanced by providing equipment that is accessible more easily and is friendly to a larger number of people.
It is known to provide an information processing apparatus designed such that messages such as “paper out”, “toner out”, and “paper jam” are conveyed by voice, while BGM (Background Music) is played along with the voice guidance. The BGM is played constantly so that, even if the user is away from the apparatus when the voice guidance is given, he/she will be able to know the current condition of the apparatus upon returning to the machine.
In the above-mentioned information processing apparatus, for example, in a multifunction device, an operation panel as shown in FIG. 13 is typically provided in the apparatus body for displaying various screens and for inputting the user's instructions. The operation panel shown in FIG. 13 displays a screen which allows the user to change various settings of commands related to the copying function. With this screen, the user is able to change the commands of “paper tray”, “magnification”, and “double/single-sided”. However, the command of “double/single-sided” is grayed out and is not selectable. Only the single-sided copying can be selected on this screen.
The double-sided printing function cannot be executed unless the multifunction device is provided with an automatic document feeder as an optional device. Therefore, the double-sided copying function will be disabled for the reason that an automatic document feeder is not provided, is out of order, or is not connected.
Such disabling procedure may be effective for general users (visually unimpaired people) who will be able to understand the apparatus condition immediately, but not so for visually impaired people who cannot visually recognize the information. If a visually impaired user performs a normal operation to select the double- or single-sided copying function under the condition of the double-sided copying function being disabled, the command will not be changed, or no voice guidance is provided to tell that the change has been done. The visually impaired user will be unable to even know why no voice guidance is given.
Even if voice guidance is given, according to a conventional art, such voice guidance directly conveys the message as displayed on the screen by voice merely to tell that the select button is grayed out or the function is disabled. Therefore, the visually impaired user is unable to even know the circumstances, being unable to understand why the function is disabled.